A team of engineers at Cambridge University in England has created a giant gravel battery that can store energy produced by windmills and solar panels so that energy will still be available even when the wind isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining. The gravel-based battery stores the intermittent energy that is produced and the feeds it back as a consistent and reliable energy source. The system consists of two silos filled with gravel that store the energy that has been converted into argon gas.
Isentopic claims its gravel-based battery would be able to store
equivalent amounts of energy but use less space and be cheaper to set
up. Its system consists of two silos filled with a pulverised rock such
as gravel. Electricity would be used to heat and pressurised argon gas
that is then fed into one of the silos, then cooled. The process of heating and cooling the gas again, produces energy.
The benefit in using the system is that the infratructure required to build and maintain the process is inexpensive, simple and takes up much less space than other battery options currently available.
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